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After over fifty editions navigating the global Black diaspora, this signifies a last dispatch. The experience was incredibly rewarding, with great appreciation offered to every one of the dedicated followers.

Exploring the Cultural Week

Attending the exhibitions, presentations and shows of the festival, it becomes clear how the finest art nourishes and constructs a country’s heritage and essence. The focal point was certainly Serge Attukwei Clottey’s remarkable [Dis]Appearing Rituals: An Open Lab of Now for Tomorrow, which showcased his innovative afrogallonism on full display: a approach that reimagines water vessels into illusory art pieces, tapestries of golden hues. The show was created as a homage to the resilience of Jamestown, a historic quarter of Accra.

The community – mainly home to the Ga community, a fishing community – is furthermore where many returning Africans arrived from South America and established themselves in the 19th century. Known as the Tabom, they introduced Portuguese tongue and traditions.

Throughout Jamestown, one observes a mix of building designs. You'll find Franklin House, with its distinct colonial-era masonry and curved entrances. Also present is the famous Jamestown Lighthouse, constructed in the 1871 and eventually featuring its signature red-and-white-striped appearance.

Traditions of Mourning

Equally striking about Jamestown is the pervasive sight of funeral posters. Everywhere you turn, be it affixed to walls or on big hoardings, one finds service information and phrases of loss. In Jamestown, as throughout Ghana, final rites are significant communal events.

In the artist's spectacular installation, the entirety of the sights, sounds and religious textures of Jamestown are captured – especially in the enveloping shoreline piece. Within it, you’re soothed by the recording of the sea with sand on the floor, while beach huts, hanging fishing nets and representations of canoes honour its dynamic, generational seafaring tradition. But experiencing this exhibition space, the mind turns to the heaps of discarded clothing that threaten the beauty and serenity of the region.

In Addition to the Headline Act

Accra Cultural Week also features much more. Within an raw space at the local university, artist Reginald Sylvester II showcased On the Other Side of Languish, an incredibly moving, stripped-back presentation that displayed sculptures and artworks created in collaboration with artisans.

Another key element is the prestigious art award for female Ghanaian artists. It showcased the inaugural exhibition of a recent winner, whose work utilizes personal family archives to craft a depiction of life in post-independence Ghana. The event also announced a new champion, whose varied work is intensely invested in the textile traditions of women in Dabala.

A Lasting Presence

While the diaspora has more and more been drawn home to Ghana during the winter months, more and more are thinking about visiting for the cultural season to engage with the region’s artistic calendar. From this festival and other major events, what emerges are creative communities that are not merely nascent or “upcoming” but have established an whole landscape that is here to stay.

Ultimately, the experience offers a vision of Accra that serves as a statement for conservation and the keeping alive of tradition. It is a compelling homage to resilience in all its expressions.